The disclosure relates to a position management method, a position management system, a position management program and a mobile communication apparatus.
There is a demand for managing positions of users that are moving by vehicles. For example, there is a demand that positions of vehicles of maintenance technicians for apparatuses at clients be managed using a management server provided in a support center or the like. Particularly in the case of medical apparatuses, it is desirable that when needs for maintenance service by a maintenance technician arise, the maintenance technician quickly be dispatched and provide the maintenance service. To this end, it is necessary to manage the positions of the maintenance technicians (users) moving by the vehicles in real time and accurately by using the management server.
A vehicle position information management method (position management method) for managing positions of vehicles used by maintenance technicians has been known heretofore (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-334399 (Patent Document 1), for example). According to the vehicle position information management method disclosed in Patent Document 1, an onboard apparatus provided in each vehicle transmits position information on the vehicle to an external management server via a relay company at regular intervals, and the management server manages the position information on the vehicle. The onboard apparatus used in the vehicle position information management method includes a GPS receiver and a cellular phone module capable of cellular phone communications.
The vehicle position information management method disclosed in Patent Document 1 makes it necessary to provide each vehicle with the onboard apparatus including a mobile module capable of cellular phone communications. Thus, if there are multiple vehicles targeted for position management, it is necessary to provide all the vehicles with respective onboard apparatuses capable of cellular phone communications. This involves a problem that costs for the position management increases due to the necessity to make cellular phone communication contracts for all the onboard apparatuses.
Portable mobile communication apparatuses such as a smartphone have been widely used in recent years. Mobile communication apparatuses are capable of obtaining their position information, and performing information communications. Then, it is conceivable that: mobile communication apparatuses carried by users of vehicles obtain position information, and transmit the position information to a management server; and the management server manages the position information.
The transmission of the position information to the management server using the mobile communication apparatuses of the users, however, means that the external management server always manages the positions of the users. This makes it difficult to protect the privacy of the users located away from the vehicles.